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Tim Helck, the grandson of the great artist Peter Helck, challenged you to identify this race Mystery Foto.

Answers to the Mystery Foto questions:

Identify the racer, driver and mechanician

The #12 Locomobile driven by Joe Tracy (driver) and Al Poole (mechanician). The race car was modified and won the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup. It was later owned by Tim Helck's grandfather Peter Helck and his father Jerry Helck.

Identify the race and date of the photo

1906 American Elimination Trial held on Saturday, September 22, 1906.

Kudos question: Where was the headquarters for this racer and its team?

Comments

Dec 21 2018Greg O.8:27 AM

-Identify the racer, driver and mechanician
#12 Locomobile driven by Joe Tracy, Al Poole mechanician, 90 HP. Finished 1st. Joe Tracy encountered a setback when his Locomobile suffered a flat tire and had to stop at the Diamond tire depot near the hairpin turn in Old Westbury.

-Identify the race and date of the photo
1906 American Elimination Trials-Date: Saturday, September 22, 1906

Kudos question: Where was the headquarters for this racer and its team?
For the1905 and 1906 races, the Locomobile team from nearby Bridgeport, Connecticut set up their headquarters at Maple Cottage, a farmhouse located in Lakeville (now Lake Success).

Dec 21 2018Steve Lucas3:43 PM

That’s the number 12 Locomobile with driver Joe Tracy and mechanician Al Poole during the 1906 American Elimination Trial race which took place on September 22, 1906. The Locomobile headquarters was Maple Cottage on Lakeville Road in Lakeville which is today’s Lake Success.

Dec 23 2018Tim Ivers10:23 AM

September 22, 1906 American Elimination Trials
Driver Joe Tracy and mechanician Al Poole
The number 12 Locomobile got a flat tire at the Westbury turn.
The team headquarters was at the “Maple Cottage” in Lke Success

Merry Christmas Howard !

Dec 23 2018Dick Gorman1:14 PM

Mystery Foto #51… The race car is a 90hp Locomobile
driven by Joe Tracy with Al Poole as the mechanician.
This was the 1906 American Elimination Trial held on September 22, 1906.
Headquarters for Joe and the Locomobile was at Lakeville Hotel.

Dec 23 2018Penny Havard1:51 PM

Photo taken Sept. 22 1906 during the Vanderbilt Elimination Trials. Driver is Joe Tracy with Al Poole as riding mechanic in the Locomobile. The training camp was at Maple Cottage in Lakeville.

Happy Holidays Howard.

Dec 23 2018Brian D McCarthy8:24 PM

*Auto, Driver & Mechanician: Locomobile #12, Joe Tracy, Al Poole

*Race/Date: American Elimination Trials 9/22/1906 to qualify 5 American entrants for the VCR 10/6/1906. The image captures the tire replacement at Diamond Tire Depot, Old Westbury during the first of 10 laps.

*Location of Headquarters for Auto & Team: Locomobile Headquarters for the 1905 & 1906 VCR’s was located at The Maple Cottage Residence. This house still stands between Farm La & Lakeville Rd. Great Neck NY.

As I realize now, many auto problems occurred during the races. The temporary fix for Herb Lytle’s Pope-Toledo radiator leak that started in lap 5 of this trial was creative. A farmer’s wife rushed out a bag of rolled oats to slow down the leak. We all know how THICK oatmeal is once cooked! He did finish 4th, but his auto was disqualified because of a tow in the 8th lap, oh well. Happy Holidays to All!

Dec 23 2018frank femenias10:23 PM

Looks like crowd-favorite Joe Tracy, in the Locomobile (mechanician Al Poole, captured as well), both winners of the Sept 22, 1906 Second American Elimination Trial Race (297 miles throughout Nassau County back roads), getting a flat fixed at the Diamond Tire depot near the hairpin curve in Old Westbury (still exists today!). If correct, sixteen year old Eddie Rickenbacker (eventual WWI ace fighter pilot) is competing as a mechanician with race-car driver Lee Frayer in one of the Frayer-Miller race cars. Locomobile headquarters in this race was near Bull’s Head Hotel in Greenvale (by today’s Northern Blvd, Rt 25A). This intense, well documented race caught my attention here. http://www.vanderbiltcupraces.com/races/story/1906_american_elimination_trial

Identify the race and date of the photo
1906 American Elimination Race, Sat., Sept. 22, 1906

Kudos question: Where was the headquarters for this racer and its team?
Maple Cottage, Lake Success

Dec 24 2018Art Kleiner10:34 AM

Should have written Lakeville, not Lake Success.

Dec 24 2018Howard Kroplick9:36 PM

Ariejan Bos

This is the Locomobile with Joe Tracy at the wheel and Al Poole as his mechanician during the 1906 Eliminating Trials for the Vanderbilt Cup. I haven’t seen this photo before, but it is obvious indeed that the Locomobile is experiencing tire troubles here. According to the report in the Scientific American of September 29th the Locomobile had suffered from tire trouble during the first round. The Cycle and Automobile Trade Journal (in their October issue) reports only that the car had a 5 minute delay during the second half of the first round, “his first and last for the day, as the event proved”. The conclusion is that the photo must have been taken during this delay. Tracy would eventually win the trials without too much effort.

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The six Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910 were the greatest sporting events of their day, and the first international automobile road races held in the United States. The races had a far-reaching impact on the development of American automobiles and parkways. This site provides comprehensive information on the races, the Long Island Motor Parkway and current Long Island automotive events, car shows and news.